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Osun’ ll Be Aggressive On IGR – COS

Government of the State of Osun has said it has no other option than to ensure that the issues of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is aggressively driven by all revenue generating agencies of government to cater for the dwindling federal allocation to the state.

Chief of Staff to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Mr Gboyega Oyetola, stated this while appearing before the House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriation to defend the 2015 budget estimate for the Governor’s Office.

He said the Office of the Governor has proposed to raise N3,025,000,000 as revenue through tender fees, registration of contractors, capital receipts and from other sources within the year.

Oyetola presented a budget of N18,645,514,610 as expenditure for the year with N6,925,000,000 as recurrent expenditure and N11,720,514,610 as proposed capital expenditure.

He said N1,159,000,000 is expected to be expended on salaries, allowances and other remunerations of career officers and political office holders in the Office of the Governor.

“The budget size for the year represents a 36.13 percent reduction in the size of the budget for year 2014,” he explained.

Commending the state parliament for its understanding over the financial position of the state and its effects on the funding of all arms of government, he said the state and the entire country have never had it so bad.

He then noted that the need to scale down the size of the budget to “a realistic level” had been dictated by the reality of the current financial situation of the state.

According to him, the situation at which the country is, requires all true lover of democracy to join hands in ensuring the emergence of the much-desired era of development and growth of the country after years of stagnation in all facets of life.

He however urged the Assembly to give usual accelerated consideration and passage to the budget to lay the required foundation for the accomplishment of all the plans and programmes of the present administration in the state.

The Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Honourable Kamil Oyedele, promised that the House would give the budget critical and accelerated consideration and passage.